The way home
by Neal-george-caffrey-bennett
Summary: A post season 5 story. Neal escaped after being kidnapped for 3 months. Peter is lonely and angry, but soon our lovely couple will be reunited. Lots of bromance and Neal wump, because i love peter taking care of neal. NO SLASH. This is my first fanfic, so please review. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

It was a cold outside and quiet, very quiet. Most people had already gone to bed. The rooftops were white. A small amount of snow lay on the ground. The moonlight gave the streets a melodramatic light. Not that con man Neal George Caffrey was looking at that. He was too busy running for his life.

Neal ran as fast as he could. This was his chance, his only chance. If he blew this there would be no way out. Neal started to run faster as he listened to his feet pounding on the ground. Quickly he took a look behind him. _Thank god, there was nothing._ Neal didn't stop though. He knew that they would be looking for him soon. And if they actually found him. Well let's say that, that would not be good. Not good at all.

As Neal turned another corner, he thought about the last couple of months. It was definitely not one of his luckiest months. Of course the trouble had started with Rebecca, or Rachel. Neal still didn't know which name to give her. After he and Peter had found the twin of the hope Diamant and had arrested Rachel, Peter had requested that Neal should be released. Actually Peter had guaranteed it. Yet the FBI did not seem to agree. They had denied the request and told Peter that Neal needed to serve out his sentence. Of course that news had not been taken well. Neal had walked away without even saying a word. He had already met up with Mozzie in the park, when he confronted the man with the cowboy boots. Of course that had not been a very smart move. Peter would have shouted at him for being so stupid.

'Neal, you need to tell me everything! I can't have you holding secrets! What if he had hurt you?! Neal this is where the FBI is for! We protect our own! Now tell me everything that has happened, as I consider not telling El about this.' Neal chuckled. Yes, that was exactly how Peter would have reacted. Even though he and Peter hadn't been on the best of turns lately, Neal knew Peter would have helped. But he hadn't told Peter and Peter hadn't found out.

Shivering Neal stopped at an intersection. Quickly checking the road behind him. Luckily there was nothing there, except an odd-looking cat. _Okay think Neal. First things first. Find out where you are. _Neal looked around. Across the street there were a few shops. Although Neal knew a lot about today's fashion world non off the shops sounded familiar. Then his eye caught a diner, 'la Aqua'. _Well that doesn't exactly narrow it down. _Crossing the intersection Neal looked at the menu cart hanging in the window. _Bingo! _It was written in Italian. _Okay, now what? _Neal looked around again, feeling a bid lost. He had to keep moving, but he didn't want to move in the wrong direction. What if they found him again?

Suddenly a bell started ringing. Neal jumped and looked in the direction the sound was coming from. A large dome rose behind the Old Italian houses. It was the most beautiful thing Neal had seen in 3 months. _Saint-Peters Church. _Neal couldn't help but laugh at the irony of that. _Thank you Peter._ Taking another look at the church Neal started running again.

Neal had spent a lot of time in Europe trying to find the music box. Doing, of course, also a few jobs on the side. Rome had always been one of his favorite cities. Rome was like Paris, one of the art capitals of Europe. Of course Neal had scouted the city several times, never stealing anything though. At least nothing that could be proven. Still this was not the way he had wanted to see Rome again.

Neal had stopped running. 'Always look like you have nothing to hide' Mozzie had told him. It was something Neal had learned to do at heart. It was also why the FBI had just stopped following him around. Today they rather looked at his tracking data. Neal looked down at is ankle. It was red all the way around and there were several scratch marks leading down. Looking at the time on a computer store Neal started to walk faster. The sun would be up soon.

'Know your enemy' was another one of Mozzie's lessons. One that did not disappoint. At that time Neal's enemy had been the FBI and Interpol. That's why Neal had learned the location of every American Embassy in Europe. Which was a lot. The Margherita USA Embassy Palace was a beautiful building. Though it didn't compare to the other buildings in the street.

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Guard Paul Gardner was just walking towards the house. He had just finished his 6 hour shift, where he was unable to watch the game that was on tonight. Damn embassies. Paul had been here only 6 months and he hated it already. The only thing you could eat was pasta. Paul thought of the stores in Los Angeles. God he missed home. And then there were the hours. Even though the pay was better, Paul still didn't like to watch the streets at this hour of the day. It was just way to quiet. Paul took a last look at the garden and turned to the door, when he heard someone running. Paul looked around and saw a young man running towards the gate. In his years as a guard Paul had never seen someone this desperate before. The man looked like he had gone through hell and back, which was probably true. His shirt and trousers were dirty and had several bloodstains on it. As the man was running towards Jim Paul noticed he wasn't wearing any shoes. Paul started to walk back quickly. _God what happened to you?_

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Neal had walked for the past 2 hours, never stopping though. It had been harder to find the embassy then Neal had hoped. He just wanted to turn around, because he had walked in circles for several hours, when Neal noticed the American flag on top of a tall building. As soon as he saw the tall building he wanted to run to it. At first he managed to stay calm, but without really noticing it he started running again. His feet aching every time he took a step.

The guard who had walked back to the house had turned to face Neal. Neal saw the shocked look in his eyes. _I didn't know I looked that bad. _The other guard had taken out his gun. 'Stop it right there!' Neal didn't care about the gun, though. The guard was ready to take a shot, when the other guard stepped in. 'Jim stop it.' Looking at Neal the guard started talking slowly. 'Are you okay? I'm Paul and this here is Jim. Are you American? Can you understand me?' As soon as Neal heard the word American he started explaining. Yet he spoke so fast, that Paul could only look confused. _Common Caffrey, slow down and think. _'My name is Neal Caffrey. I'm a convicted art forger and I'm probably a wanted fugitive. Please, let me in. Arrest me. If they find me now, they will kill me. Please, just let me in. Arrest me and call Peter. I mean Special Agent Burke of the FBI. Just call him. Call the FBI. Call Peter!'

At that Neal collapsed on the hard stone floor. As the guards called for help from inside the house, nobody noticed the black sedan from across the street. The man looked at the commotion across the street. Slowly he put out his cigarette. _See you soon Caffrey._


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**

**Thank you so much reading my story. And of course also for the kind reviews. You guys are really to kind. I really appreciate it. Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it and that I will not let you down. Please review and enjoy. :)**

Chapter 2

The lanterns shined brightly this night. Normally a couple would flicker, but tonight all of them worked. A yellow cab stopped in the middle of the street. A middle-aged woman stepped out of the cab. She took a quick look at the house and then turned to open the trunk. After getting her bags out, she paid the cabdriver and walked to the front door. Putting her bags down, she quietly unlocked the door. A blue-eyed brunet stepped through and almost tripped over something golden at her feet. Leaning over she started patting it. 'Hey, Satch. Good boy. Good Satchmo. Did you miss me, did you miss mommy? Where is your daddy?' It had been four weeks since Elizabeth Bruke had last seen her home and she had missed it. Not that Washington wasn't nice, but still it was not home. Home is where your hart is and Elizabeth Burke's hart was here with her husband. Smiling Elizabeth let go of Satchmo and turned to pick up her bags. It was empty inside. They had decided to leave the sofa, a bookcase, the carpet, a couple of photos and the television. The lack of a table and chairs left the back side of the room very empty.

Elizabeth sighed. They used to have friends over almost every week. But now only Diana and Jones came by from time to time. Usually because they had to work and decided that Peter had better coffee. After Neal had gone missing Mozzie had refused to come by. He was too busy trying to find Neal. Mozzie was convinced it was all Peters fault. This was not the first time Elizabeth had thought about Neal. The general theory was that Neal had run, because the FBI had decided to decline his early release. To be honest she had thought the same thing. But when Mozzie showed up at the house worried sick because he couldn't contact Neal she had changed her mind. Neal had the tendency to run, but he would never leave Mozzie behind. Worried she looked at the calendar. Neal had been missing for 3 months now. Peter and Mozzie had turned every stone they could find, but it was as if Neal had vanished from the earth. O _Neal, where are you?_

Suddenly Elizabeth realized that she had been staring for 10 minutes. Quickly she turned around and began to walk up the stairs. Quietly she opened the bedroom door. Peter had decided that El should take the bed with her, because Peter usually came to her. Namely because Peter could travel for almost nothing. One of the perks of being an FBI agent. Which meant that Peter flew to D.C. every two weeks to spend the weekend with her. Still it had left Peter without a bed. At the moment her husband was fast on two matrasses. Elizabeth smiled. She had missed him so much. Leaving the bags at the door she walked over to the other matrasses and silently but one beside him. She threw her sleeping bag on the matrass and started undressing. _Peter is going to be so happy._

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The sunlight came creeping through the windows. Special agent Peter Burke turned and stretched out his arm. He hadn't slept this well since El had moved to Washington. He could almost hear her breathing next to him. And it was just like his hand touched her side. 'Morning, hon.' Peters eyes flew open and he bolted back. The sudden movement caused the matrass slide away and Peter fell flat on the ground. At first there was complete silence, then a soft giggle emerged and it grew and grew into full out laughter. Peter opened his eyes again and looked at the person next to him. Smiling he crawled over and kissed a still laughing Elizabeth. 'He, hon. I missed you.' El moved closer and kissed him. 'I missed you to.' Peter moved so his back was leaning against the wall as El crawled on his lap and rested her head against his chest.

'Not that I'm not happy that you're here, but aren't you supposed to be in D.C?' He felt El's head shake. 'No, there is a new exhibit in New York. I was send to see if there was anything worth buying. I also brought a curator to authenticate. Apparently it's very special exhibit, they have a new work of every grand master there is. Some suspect that they're all forgeries. Really Neal would have loved it…' Suddenly she stopped talking. She had stopped using Neal's name in Peter's presence. It broke her hart to see how sad, hurt and angry Peter got when they talked about Neal.

Quickly Peter started talking to fill the silence. 'So how long are you staying?' Peter had not wanted El to throw away her career, but he still didn't like to be alone in the house. It felt empty, like the light that had made the room shine had gone out. But most of all he missed the regular things. The greeting when he came home from work. The dinner parties, the date nights, the lunches and the talks. Peter still sometimes came home shouting 'Hon, I'm home!' He just missed her warmth, her understanding, her kindness and her cleverness. Honestly it didn't matter how long she stayed, he would treasure every minute they had together.

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Ambassador Corn wasn't happy. He didn't just have a bad day. No, he had a terrible day. It started early this morning. When his maid came to bring the coffee. She spilled it all over his desk and paperwork. Hours of work destroyed by one cup of coffee. Frustrated he had sent her away to get a towel. Only then he had noticed the pain in his hand. Of course it had also been burned, _because why would you ever need a hand. _Cursing he had walked to the bathroom to clean himself up. With such a bad morning he should have known that things would only get worse. Around eleven his secretary came in. Turned out the clock in his office was broken and his meeting would start in 20 minutes. Of course the traffic had not worked along and he indeed turned up late at his meeting. But that had not been the worst thing. Apparently he had taken the wrong papers with him. This meant a lot of improvisation. His meeting took most of the day and he returned home around 8 pm. Dinner had not gone well either. Turned out that his chef was ill and one of her students had prepared his meal. Corn shook his head. He needed to remember to fire her. After dinner he had decided to call Star, even an ambassador needs a little loving form time to time. He was just paying Star, when Gardner came in.

Gardner was one of the older guards. Somehow Gardner never improved his mood. Honestly Corn despised the older guard. He was so common and had no manners. Normally people had respect for him, but not Gardner. No, he always had to argue. Corn always got what he wanted, but Gardner would never listen. He wouldn't take orders from the ambassador, which made Corn furious. Corn smiled slightly. That's why he had ordered Gardner to pick up the night shifts of his former colleague. 'Ambassador? Can I have a moment?' Sighing Corn turned to face the older guard. 'Eh, I'm actually really busy. Can't it wait?' Corn started turning around, hoping the guard would leave it at that. 'Actually it can't. I came to inform you that we have a guest.' Frowning Corn looked at the guard. 'A guest, you say? And who would that be at this hour? We had no visits planned for this week.' 'Well technically American citizens can always enter the embassy. Anyway we couldn't send him away even if we wanted to.' 'Really?! And why is that, if I may ask.'

Corn felt his frustration rise. Of course he knew that the embassy was open to every American who came knocking on the door. This also meant a lot of unwelcome company, mainly in the summer. 'Well, his name is Neal Caffrey. He just turned himself in, because he is a wanted fugitive. He was hurt bad, so I had Tosca call the doctor. And… Are you okay?' Corn looked quit pale, all the blood had drained from his face. 'Did you say wanted fugitive?' 'Well yes, but he…' 'Then why in the hell is he still here?! Why didn't you call the police?! Let them take him. I will not have a wanted fugitive in MY embassy!' Quickly he started walking in the direction of the guestrooms. _What the hell was Gardner thinking! A fugitive in my embassy! _If the press got wind of this his career would be over. Corn was so angry he did not notice Paul following him. Finally Tosca's desk came into few. 'Tosca, call the Italian national police. I want this guy out of here.'

Tosca Vargas had been ambassador Corns secretary for nearly 4 years. And in those years she had never seen him so worked up as now. 'I'm sorry sir, but that's not possible. I called the FBI to inform them that we had there fugitive. The FBI agent in charge left me orders that he was not to be moved under any circumstances. And that he needed to be guarded around the clock. Apparently mister Caffrey has a tendency to run. Not that he is capable of running at the moment. Also the doctor is checking him over at the moment. He wants to speak to you as soon as he is done.'

Ambassador Corn couldn't believe what he was hearing. He didn't get orders, he gave them. Who the hell had given the FBI the authority to boss him around?! He had worked half of his live for the right to boss people around. Whoever this Caffrey character was Corn strongly hoped he would be gone soon. _If necessary I will make him leave._

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Special Agent Peter Burke got out of the elevator on the 21th floor. He was relatively late today. Ever since El had gone to Washington Peter had been a real workaholic. Usually he started at 7 am and left at 9 pm. This of course had really worried the team. Peter had always been a workaholic, but this was way too much. Everybody did understand why. With El gone and Neal missing Peter was all alone. Diana and Jones tried to visit frequently, but they too had a busy schedule. And Diana had Theo to look after. Though she had secretly started calling him Teddy. Peter smiled. This morning had been wonderful. He and El had decided to eat breakfast on the bed, mainly because they did not have a table and El didn't like the empty living room. They had talked and talked. This morning had made Peter realize just how much he had missed having El home.

As Peter walked through the glass doors, his few first went to the first desk on the right. Sighing Peter walked past it. The desk had been empty for 3 months now. Yet nobody had claimed the desk. Not that Peter mind, he liked it this way. The real reason that people hadn't claimed the desk was, because Diana had treated to shoot the first guy who did. Neal's belongings had been removed 3 weeks after he had gone missing. Peter had protested but it hadn't helped. Most of the higher-ups believed Neal had run because of his declined release. And the first moments Peter had thought the same thing. He still didn't know for sure if Neal had run or had been taken. Either way he had to find Neal. Which wasn't as easy as it sounded. 'Morning boss, got stuck in traffic?' Peter looked up at the person who just entered his office. 'Morning Diana. No, I had some unexpected company, which needed my attention.' Diana looked surprised at Peter. Peter smiled. 'El came home last night. Apparently there is this new exhibit with famous artists and the national gallery asked her to see if there is anything interesting. Which means she will be staying in New York for about 3 weeks. That reminds me, El asked you over for dinner tomorrow.'

Diana smiled. She had noticed the deep circles around Peter's eyes. Peter never slept well and with El gone, he was all on his own. Now that El was in town for three weeks Peter could finally get a little rest. 'Really? That's great. You can finally get some real furniture. Theo and I love to come over for dinner tomorrow.'

'Good. I will call El and tell her we have company.' Just when Peter wanted to pick up the phone to dial El, it started ringing. Peter frowned. It was a privet European number. Quickly Peter picked up the phone. 'Hello, special agent Peter Burke speaking.' A young woman with a hint of an Italian accent started talking. 'Good morning. You are speaking with Tosca Vargas secretary of ambassador Corn of the American embassy in Rome Italië. I called to inform you that we have found Neal Caffrey.'


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note **

**I just wanted to thank you guys again for reading my story and all the reviews. Thank you for the great tips you are giving me. I hope you like this chapter. I will try and update every month from now on. Please review and enjoy!**

Chapter 3

It had been quiet just a few hours ago. New York had been quiet. It was like the city knew something was wrong, that there was something missing. Diana Barrigan looked at all the new faces in the office. Most of the Harvard crew had been reassigned or promoted. Diana had gotten a promotion too, but she had respectfully declined. Everybody knew what was happening. They were clearing out the office, splitting up everybody who knew Caffrey. Afraid that they would hold back the investigation. Not that it mattered anymore. The bureau had put together a special taskforce to track down Caffrey. Neal would have been trilled. Which white collar criminal could say they had their own taskforce hunting them down?

Honestly after Neal had run, the office had been a mess. People running through the halls, phones in their hands. Marshalls walking around, searching his house and desk. Because Peter was moving to DC all Caffrey related calls had been transferred to Jones. That was also the reason Jones had been the first to know about Neal's escape. Even before he picked up the phone Diana knew what was coming. She had heard about Neal's request for early release and she had also heard it got denied. Peter had called her asking if she could go by the house later this afternoon with Theo to check on Neal. He had hoped it would distract Neal form running. Neal loved Theo. And to her surprise he was really good with the baby. When she asked him about it, he just smiled. 'I wasn't always a high standard white collar criminal, you know. And in the contrary to general believe I did go to school. Maybe not Harvard, but I did learn some stuff in high school.' Diana stared at him for a moment. 'You took parenting classes?' She sounded so surprised, that Neal started laughing. 'Yes, I thought it would come in handy when I became a cop. I thought I could help families better. Don't worry though. I also took art and cooking classes.' As he presented her a beautifully decorated pancake.

Anyway after Jones had informed her on the situation, Diana had called Peter. It had been one of the worst phone calls she had ever made. _How could Neal have been so stupid? Hadn't he learned anything from last time?_ Hughes had pulled some serious strings and honestly Diana didn't see how Neal could get out of this one. _This time I am going to shoot you when you get back._ As she had expected Peter already knew what was coming. He answered the phone with 'He has run, hasn't he?' It was more of a statement than an actual question, yet she felt the need to confirm it. 'I told him not to do anything stupid. I told him. Diana, have Jones pull his tracking data and meet me at the location.' After she had instructed Jones, he and Peter had followed the tracking data.

Yet things had not turned out the way she thought. When Peter and Jones returned Diana was at her desk talking to a very annoying airport employee. Peter came in first, walking quickly to his office. Closing the door behind him and picking up the phone with more force than usual. Jones came a little later walking towards her with a frown. Diana had expected Peter to look betrayed, angry and sad even, but she hadn't expected him to look so worried. When Jones showed her the anklet she understood why. It looked like somebody had thrown it under a bike and then hit it with a hammer. The anklet was broken in to three pieces with the necessary force. Probably a screwdriver Diana guessed. Yet that was not what worried her the most. It was the blood that covert those broken pieces. Diana had always tried to maintain a cool image, especially towards Caffrey. But that did not mean she didn't care for him or worried about him. Not that she would ever tell him that, but Caffrey was like the annoying little brother she never had. Always getting into trouble. The good thing about Caffrey was that he always cleaned up his own messes. Or at least he tried to.

The rest of the day had gone by pretty quickly and so had the last 3 months. It was like Neal had vanished. Not even Mozzie had been able to find him. _Mozzie. _She was not just worried about Neal. The little guy was having a really hard time, because he couldn't find Neal. It caused him to be less careful. Sometimes Diana wondered if it wasn't Mozzie, but Neal who was paranoid. But off course that would have been ridiculous. Saying that Mozzie was not paranoid was like saying the sun was green. The fact that Mozzie was still here on the other hand was a reason to be worried. Neal wouldn't have left without Mozzie. And if he had, he would have said goodbye. Not only to Mozzie but to June to.

Diana looked at the clock on the computer screen. The digital letters showed her that it was 1 minute past 9 am. Surprised she looked around at Peter's office. It was still empty. This was odd, because Peter had a tendency to come in at 7 am and leave at 9 pm. Something Diana wasn't very happy about. Just when she was thinking about calling him, Peter walked into the office. Diana looked him over. Lately Peter had looked tired and sad. On Mondays it was even worse. Diana knew why. Peter flew from New York to DC every couple of weeks and probably didn't sleep on the plane. Today on the other hand Peter looked well rested. He even smiled when he came into the office. That hadn't happened in a while. As Peter was settling in, Diana walked over to check on him.

'Morning boss, got stuck in traffic?' Peter looked up at her and smiled. 'Morning Diana. No, I had some unexpected company, which needed my attention.' Diana couldn't help but look surprised. _Could it be? Had Neal finally returned to New York? _If he had, she hoped he would have a good reason. And otherwise she looked forward to shooting him. 'El came home last night.' Peter went on. 'Apparently there is this new exhibit with famous artists and the national gallery asked her to see if there is anything interesting. Which means she will be staying in New York for about 3 weeks. That reminds me, El asked you over for dinner tomorrow.' Of course why hadn't she thought of that? It was well known that Peter had some sleeping problems. And normally El was there to help him with that, but with El in DC peter was all on his own. Having Elisabeth back in town would really do her boss some good. Because Peter was looking down at some papers, he hadn't seen her initial disappointment. Quickly she put up a Caffrey worthy smile. 'Really? That's great. You can finally get some real furniture. Theo and I love to come over for dinner tomorrow.' Peter nodded. 'Good. I will call El and tell her we have company.' Just when he reached for the phone it began ringing. 'Hello, special agent Peter Burke speaking.' Diana had never seen somebody get so white so quickly. It was like all the blood had drained form his face. Diana heard a woman's voice on the other end of the line. It sounded Italian. 'Boss what's wrong?' Finally Peter looked up at her, still listening to what was being said on the other end of the line. He tried to form a sentence, yet nothing came out. Clearing his trout, Peter tried again. 'Diana, get me a flied to Italië. They found Neal. They finally found him.'

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Out of all the placed Special Agent Peter had expected to be, Italië had certainly not been one of them. Yet 8 hours later Peter was walking in the main capital of Italië. After he had landed at the airport, Peter had taken a cab to the American embassy. The embassy was a tall building, with sand colored stones and high windows. The American flag moved silently at the top of the building. The first thing Peter noticed was the security. There were two men stationed in the guard house and a third one walked past the outer gate. Peter didn't need to guess who the extra security was for. The cab stopped in front of the tall building and Peter quickly paid the driver. Now that he was so close Peter wanted nothing more than to see Neal. Peter got out of the black sedan and walked to the trunk to get out his luggage. Not that he had taken much time to pack.

After he told Diana that they had found Neal, everything had gone by quickly. Diana had run to the bullpen instructing the agents to get in contact with Interpol and the Italian police. Meanwhile waking Peter out of his trance. He instructed the secretary to not call the police. He ensured her he was coming to Italië to handle the matter and that he did not want the prisoner moved. Also he warned her to double the guards just in case Neal ran again. His warning had not been ignored. Although he doubted that this was the secretary's work.

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Peter got his luggage out of the trunk and thanked the driver again. He never saw the man looking at him walking to the guards. Satisfied the man took another sip of his cigarette and then threw it out the window. _Nice to meet you agent Burke._ Smiling he drove off. The cigarette still burning on the ground.

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As Peter walked towards the house a large guy came towards him. 'Paul Gardner, head security guard. You must be agent Peter Burke. Nice to meet you, but honestly I wished it was under better circumstances. I was the one that found Neal at the gate. A few more moments and you would have needed to visit him in the hospital. Anyway, I will bring you to Neal right away. Also ambassador Corn would like a word, though he formulated it a bid different. Also the doctor will be back to check on Neal in an hour.' Peter frowned. He had a bad feeling about this ambassador. 'It's okay. If it is alright I will speak with the ambassador now.' Paul gave Peter a look. 'Better you then me. To be honest the ambassador doesn't like me very much, but then nor do I. I do have to warn you, he wasn't too happy about Caffrey staying here.' Peter nodded. He hadn't expected the ambassador to be happy about it. Most government types wouldn't have been happy. To be honest Peter couldn't think of one person who would have been happy about it. Nevertheless the way Corn had ordered him to have a word, made peter's skin crawl.

Paul guided Peter to the second floor, where they were greeted by young Italian woman. She was about 28 years old, peter guessed. Her brown hair was bound back in a ponytail and her green eyes looked curious at Peter. 'Hello Tosca. I think you already met…' Paul tried to say, but Tosca cut him through. 'We did, but not in person. Tosca Vargas.' She stood directly and offered him her hand. 'Nice to meet you miss Vargas. I would like to speak to Ambassador Corn, please.' Nodding Tosca walked around her desk. 'I'm going to guard Caffrey. Good luck.' Peter looked at Paul while he walked in the other direction. Turning Peter followed the young brunette trough a big hallway. It was filled with several paintings. Finally Peter got to the room in which Ambassador Corn had made his office. _Let's see what we have here. All or nothing._

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The first thing Neal noticed when he woke up was an electronic beeping. He knew that sound. It was the sound of an electronic heart monitor. The same one they had used in the Powell case. They had made the guy think his kidney was failing to get the account number of the illegal organs sales. In the end Peter en he had arrested the guy. Neal still remembered standing next to Peter waving with the fake badge. It felt like ages ago. One of the first cases he had worked with Peter and closed successfully.

Suddenly Neal realized what this meant. They had found him. He had been too late and they had found him. That was not the worst though. Neal hadn't finished the last painting. It should have been the master piece. _The one that had to be perfect._ That's why Neal had taken his time. Not working to slow, but also not working to fast. He remembered all too well, what would happen if he did not deliver perfect work. It was also the reason Neal had got the opportunity to run. After he was done with this painting they wouldn't need him anymore. A shiver ran through his body. They would punish him, he knew. Running meant that the guards had free range. _What would they do this time?_ Last time they had only twisted his ankle. Now they would surely break it.

Faintly Neal heard two people talking to each other. One of the voices sounded familiar, though Neal could not place it. As he thought about whom it could be, he heard the beeping increase speed. Of course he noticed that he was panicking, but it wouldn't stop. How badly he wanted it to. 'What's happening?' A voice asked, sounding worried. Neal knew that voice, but it couldn't be. It was impossible. _Get it together Caffrey. _'I think he is having a panic attack. He doesn't remember what happened and doesn't know that he is safe.' The other voice answered. It voice sounded old and had a very thick Italian accent. Suddenly Neal felt two fingers on his trout. His hand shot out en grabbed a slim wrist. He could feel the bones under his fingers. The man gave out a small cry, but did not move. He heard quick wrestling of clothes and footsteps coming closer. 'Neal?' The voice asked. The man tasted the name on his lips, like he hadn't used it for a long time. 'Neal. It's okay. You're okay. Wake up.' Then Neal knew it was Peter's voice. Trembling Neal shook his head. _No it couldn't be Peter. Peter wasn't in Italië. Was he? _'Neal, open your eyes damned.' _Well that did sound like Peter._ Neal prepared himself to be disappointed.

Neal knew what he would be seeing when he opened his eyes. He would be back in the warehouse. With big Will and snake man. The man in the cowboy boots would be standing at his bedside, shaking his head. He could keep them closed, pretend he was asleep again. _Too late._ Neal opened his eyes. First the world was blurry and then he saw the man on his left. It was an old, Italian man with a big mustache and short grey hair. 'Neal?' Quickly Neal turned his head to where the sound was coming from. Peter was standing on the right side of his bed, looking Neal over and calculating his state of mind. Blue eyes met worried brown ones. 'Neal?' Peter asked again. 'Could you let go of the good doctor? He was just trying to measure your heartbeat and he will need his hand.' Frowning Neal looked at the doctor again. He looked calm and worried, but also a little frightened. Quickly Neal let go and looked to Peter again. 'P…ter?' Neal frowned even harder. His voice had only been a whisper and Neal doubted that Peter had understood him. Yet Peter walked closer laying a hand on his arm. 'Yes, Neal. I'm here. You just rest okay. Everything is going to be okay. You're safe. I promise.' And for the first time in three months Neal knew that everything was going to be okay.

**WCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWCWC**

Outside Ambassador Corn was walking on the sidewalk. He just had a conversation with agent Burke and he hated him. He had never met a man so ignorant, annoying and above all bossy. _What the hell was that guy thinking?_ _Telling him how to run an embassy._ Angry Corn kicked at a bottle left by a tourist. _Damn the FBI! No, damn Neal Caffrey. _Corn was so angry that he didn't even notice the black sedan until it drove right next to him. Looking left Corn started walking a little bit faster, which let the sedan to also increase speed. Suddenly Corn stopped dead in his tracks. 'What the hell do you want?!' He screamed turning towards the car. The window of the sedan rolled down and a man with a cigarette looked out. 'I think, ambassador, that you have a problem and that I might have the perfect solution.'


End file.
